Democratic Erosion University Course Student Blog

Students enrolled in our course are encouraged to write for the course blog, and to read and comment on posts from students at other participating universities. The blog offers students the opportunity to analyze current events through the lens of the theory and case studies they engage with through the course.

The house is burning from the inside out: American democracy is dying

” There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide” - James Adams. If the average empire fails at 250 years and America is 248 years old, could we say that the death of democracy was something foreseeable and the uprise in authoritarian form of government...

Demagogues: Turning America into the Child Left Behind

The emergence of technofascist demagogues in American politics pose a significant threat to democracy and education, highlighting the urgent need for critical thinking and informed choices to protect the nation’s future.

Germany’s Defense of Democracy

Populism is rising in Germany, with the far-right political party, Alternative for Germany, gaining more and more popularity that echo dangerous anti-democratic trends from Germany, raising concerns about the future of Germany’s democracy.

2025 Romanian Elections: An Election Redo and a Barred Candidate

Apr 18, 2025 | Boston University

Only two weeks out from Presidential Elections, Romanian voters face a tough decision in deciding on the next leader of their country. The latest opinion polls show that...

Why Protecting American Democracy Means Coming Together In Protest

Apr 18, 2025 | Boston University

In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, the Democratic Erosion Consortium's very own professors Robert Blair and Steven Rosenzweig wrote an article in The...

Populism and Authoritarianism in Venezuela

Apr 17, 2025 | Boston University

Cyrus Sadr Democratic Erosion Professor Steven Rosenzweig 4/9/25 Populism and Authoritarianism in Venezuela The 2024 election of Nicolas Maduro is widely viewed as being fraudulent...

The Erosion of Democracy: Sending U.S. Citizens to El Salvador

Apr 17, 2025 | Boston University

The idea floated by former President Trump to deport “homegrown criminals”—U.S. citizens—to a maximum security prison in El Salvador is a troubling sign of democratic erosion in the United States....

“Unleashed” – Boris Johnson’s Populist Reincarnation

Apr 17, 2025 | Tartu University

On October 10th, 2024 I ordered the freshly released Boris Johnson memoir, Unleashed (Croft,2024). None of my relatives or friends from the UK, nor any of my classmates, paid any attention to this...

Democratic Erosion Disguised as Stability: Georgia’s Post-Election Crisis

Apr 17, 2025 | Boston University

In Georgia, parliamentary elections in October 2024 spurred mass mobilization and protest nationally over alleged electoral fraud and government violence. Thousands of individuals took to the...

Serbian Protests: Unrest or Backsliding?

Apr 16, 2025 | Boston University

Serbia has seen a wave of student protests over the last four months due to the deadly train station collapse in Novi Sad that has now claimed the lives of 16 people. The collapse comes after recent...

Prosperity Does Not Equal Democracy: Economic Inequality and Democratic Erosion

Apr 15, 2025 | Boston University

The United States is rich. In fact, almost ridiculously so; to illustrate, according to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook for 2025, the U.S. sits proudly at the apex of worldwide rankings, with an...

The Disbandment of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party: An Example of Authoritarian Consolidation

Apr 13, 2025 | Boston University

On April 13th, 2025, Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, voted to begin dissolving itself. Over 90% of the party’s remaining members backed the decision. This wasn't just...

Why Estonia’s decision to disenfranchise non-EU citizens is doing more harm than good

Apr 9, 2025 | Tartu University

On the 26 of March, the Estonian parliament (the Riigikogu) passed a constitutional amendment to remove the rights to vote in local elections for non-EU residents (Kangro, 2025). This was sparked by...

Democratic Backsliding or Payback to the Democrats? Unpacking Yoon’s Presidency in South Korea

Apr 8, 2025 | Tartu University

In April 2025, South Korea’s Constitutional Court unanimously confirmed the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol, officially removing him from office after he attempted to impose martial law on...